Deutsch-Altenburg 2 (Pleistocene of Austria)

Also known as Bad Deutsch Altenburg 2

Where: Lower Austria, Austria (48.1° N, 16.9° E: paleocoordinates 48.1° N, 16.9° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.0 Ma)

• "Middle Pleistocene", no other info given

Environment/lithology: cave; gray marl

• ""Im Frühjahr 1977 wurde nach einer Sprengung auf der dritten Etage des Steinbruches eine kleine Höhle sichtbar, die an einer der mit rund 32° nach Süden einfallenden Schichtfugen angelegt und zum Teil mit grauen Mergeln gefüllt war, die auch gelbe und rotbraune Partien enthielten."

•[In spring of 1977 a cave appeared at the 3rd level of the quarry subsequent to a blasting operation. The cave opens within one of the 32° south dipping bedding joints and was partly filled with grey marl that also contained yellowish and reddish-brown portions.] (Mais & Rabeder, 1977)

•"Die Schichtfuge ist über die ganze Abbaufläche zwischen dritter und vierter Etage (280 bis 300 Meter) als sedimenterfüllter Kluftraum zu verfolgen, der meist eine Höhe von 0,5 Meter aufweist und mit Sand und Schutt verfüllt ist. An drei Stellen ist die Schichtfuge zu größeren Räumen erweitert [...], die nur teilweise verfüllt sind. Nur in der tiefsten dieser Höhlen lag über einem rotbraunen Sand der fossilführenden Mergel. Diese bis zu einem Meter mächtige Fundschicht ging nach oben in einen dunkelgrünen fossilleeren Ton über, der von nicht verfestigtem Schutt und Sintergrus bedeckt war. Der freibleibende Höhlenraum zeigte zwei kuppelförmige Kolke, die mit Knötchensinter überzogen waren."

•[The bedding joint, forming a sediment filled gap, can be traced along the entire quarry face of the 3rd and 4th level over a distance of 280 to 300 m. The joint is mostly 0.5 m high and is filled with sand and rubble. In three places it widens to larger cavities which are only partially filled. Only in the deepest of these cavities the fossiliferous marl was encountered lying above a reddish-brown sand. The fossiliferous bed was up to 1 m thick and graded upward into a dark green unfossiliferous clay which in turn was capped by loose rubble and travertine gravel. Two dome-like structures covered by nodular travertine, projected into the cave space that was not filled by sediment.] (Mais & Rabeder, 1977)

•The dolomitic limestone in which the caves have formed probably is of Middle Triassic age (Döppes & Rabeder, 1996, Mitt. Abt. Geol. Paläont. Landesmus. Joanneum 54, p. 24) and belongs to the alpidic basement of the Vienna Basin." - this is the description for BDA 20, assuming it is v similar for BDA 2 also.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

• Fossiliferous marl of BDA contains "masses of small bones, particularly snake vertebrae". (Mais & Rabeder, 1977)

Preservation: original phosphate

Collection methods: UWPI = Paläontologisches Institut der Universität Wien [Vienna University Paleontological Institute]

Primary reference: Z. Szyndlar. 1991. A review of Neogene and Quaternary snakes of Central and Eastern Europe. Part I: Scolecophidia, Boidae, Colubrinae. Estudios Geológicos 47:103-126 [T. Cleary/T. Cleary]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 206586: authorized by Terri Cleary, entered by Terri Cleary on 20.11.2019

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Anurans and Testudines are present in the fauna but were not determined at the moment of the publication and thus are omitted in the list.

•It is not clear whether Venczel & Vardai (2000) re-identified all or only a fraction of the Elaphe sp. listed by Mais & Rabeder (1977).

Reptilia
 Squamata - Colubridae
cf. Coluber viridiflavus Lacépède 1789 racer
compounds and palatines (UWPI)